Banana-Chocolate "Faux-ssants"

These banana and chocolate croissants are quick and simple to prepare thanks to store-bought frozen puff pastry.

Notes: Be sure to measure the triangles in your sheet of puff pastry before cutting to ensure evenly-sized croissants. King Arthur is a great source for chocolate batons needed in this recipe.

About the author: Pastry Chef Jenny McCoy has worked in Chicago, New Orleans, and New York City for some of America's most beloved chefs. She is the author of Desserts for Every Season and currently teaches at ICE. When she's not counting her lucky stars that she no longer works in restaurant kitchens, she's busy trying to convince home cooks that baking is easy and fun. Or she's running around working on a new line of baking mixes, shooting classes for Craftsy.com or a new show for the Food Network. Stay tuned @Jenny_McCoy for updates.

Ingredients

Procedures

1

Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat oven to 400°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. In a small bowl, whisk the eggs until evenly combined and set aside.

2

Peel and trim the pointed ends off each banana and discard. Cut 1 banana crosswise into two 3-inch long slices, then cut each slice in half horizontally, to make four 3-inch long pieces. Repeat with the remaining bananas.

3

Lay one sheet of puff pastry on a dry cutting board or a sheet of parchment paper, with the longer sides of the sheet at the top and bottom of the cutting board, and the shorter sides to the left and right of the cutting board. Using a pizza wheel and a ruler as guide, cut the sheet vertically into eight triangles in a zigzag pattern, each with a 3½-inch base. Repeat with the second sheet of dough. (Note: To be safe, it’s best to measure your triangles before you start cutting.)

4

Position one triangle with the wide base closest to you and the point directed away from you, then lightly brush the entire surface of the puff pastry with egg wash. Cut a small notch in the center of the base of the triangle and gently stretch apart (See image for reference). Place two chocolate batons and one piece of banana about 1-inch from the base of the triangle, fold the dough over the banana and chocolate to secure, and continue to roll until you have a spiral of dough. Gently transfer the shaped croissant to the prepared baking sheet, with the point of the triangle placed flat on the baking sheet. (This is often referred to as “seam side down," which will prevent your croissant from unrolling as it rises and bakes.) Repeat with the remaining triangles of dough.

5

Lightly brush the egg wash over the entire surface of each croissant and sprinkle generously with about 1 tablespoon of sugar each.

6

Bake until well risen and a deep golden brown in color, about 40 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through baking. Let the croissants cool on the baking sheet until warm enough to handle.

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About the Author

Jenny enrolled in the Baking and Pastry Program at Chicago’s Kendall College, just after graduating from high school, on a whim. Knowing she wasn’t ready to enter college proper, she decided, “If I like baking, I’ll have a job; if I don’t, I’ll know how to make great birthday cakes—where’s the harm?” Lucky for Jenny, she fell in love with the kitchen and landed positions in a variety of Chicago’s top restaurants, including Charlie Trotter’s, Blackbird, Gordon and Bittersweet Bakery. It was in these kitchens where Jenny learned to refine her palate and develop her talent for composing seasonal desserts.

Following her formative experiences in fine dining, Jenny took a brief hiatus from professional baking and traveled to various countries in Europe, South and Central America to broaden her culinary vocabulary. With an interest in food beyond the kitchen, she also returned to school and completed a BA in Food Writing at DePaul University.

When Jenny returned to the pastry kitchen, it was in New Orleans. There, she had the opportunity to oversee three restaurant pastry departments for Emeril Lagasse, as well as contribute weekly to the Cooking Blog at Emerils.com. While working at Emeril's Delmonico, Jenny was a nominee for the PastryScoop.com Best Dessert Menu Award in 2006. It wasn’t long, however, before she felt the pull of New York City’s vibrant culinary scene; she moved north a few years later.

Since her arrival, Jenny’s worked in New York City as the opening pastry chef at Marc Forgione, and for A Voce, where she ran pastry operations for both their Madison Square and Columbus Circle locations. She then moved on to work for Tom Colicchio at his flagship restaurant, Craft, where she was influenced by her varied pastry background and knowledge of ingredients and flavors. In September 2011, ten years after Craft opened, she helped the restaurant earn its second three-star review from The New York Times. She was also awarded the 2011 NYC Rising Star Pastry Chef Award from StarChefs.com.

In 2012, Jenny stepped out of professional kitchen to co-found Cissé Trading Company, a line of gourmet and fair trade hot cocoa and baking mixes; and to work with leading companies such as Starbucks, the Almond Board of California, and Chinet as a tastemaker and brand ambassador. A year later, her products can be found in 500+ stores nationally, including Whole Foods Market.

Currently, Jenny is a chef-instructor at The Institute of Culinary Education (ICE); just published her first cookbook, Desserts for Every Season; is the co-chair of The Center for Advanced Pastry Studies (CAPS) at ICE; volunteers to help change school lunch programs in the NYC Department of Education with Wellness in the Schools; and is eagerly awaiting the launch of her online class series at Craftsy.com. Jenny also consults with small food producers to help them commercialize their products for grocery store sales. Throughout her career, Jenny has appeared in many print and media outlets for her work as an authority in the baking and pastry industry.

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